WWE: Who Will Save The Future?

It's just my humble opinion, and maybe I'm overreacting, but I cannot help but feel a sense of doom for the future of World Wrestling Entertainment. In my 20 years of being a fan, I always felt there was plenty of talent to go around. Plenty of main event superstars, plenty of mid carders, plenty of veterans, and plenty of young up and comers.

But unfortunately at this point in time, that sense of comfort is gone. It's hard for me to doubt Vince McMahon and his team, being that they have for the better part of two decades consistently been able to surprise, shock, frustrate, excite, and completely satisfy me.

But when I look around, and think to myself, who will ultimately carry this company into the future, I get a little worried. Just look at the talent the company has lost over the past decade, due to either retirement, switching companies, Hollywood, or unfortunately death. Superstars we no longer have with us, who for the most part left the WWE prematurely—Owen Hart, Bret Hart, Curt Hennig, Brian Pillman, Eddie Guerrero, British Bulldog, Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle, The Rock, Steve Austin, Brock Lesnar, RVD, and Mick Foley, to name a few.

These aren't mid-card guys or jobbers. We are talking about a dozen of the greatest wrestlers ever to grace a ring. The company has sustained these losses as well as possible. But now as I look to the future, it's scary to see who the WWE will undoubtedly be losing within the next three to five years.

Let's face it, as much as you and I may want to believe that Shawn Michaels (who in my opinion is thee greatest wrestler of all time) and the Undertaker will be around forever, these guys are both in their 40's and have been taking poundings for 20+ years, so I give them both at the most three more years.

We recently also lost Ric Flair, and even though he may hang around and take part in certain programs, we don't have him the way we really want him. So as it goes we will lose HBK, Nature Boy, and Taker who are arguably three of the top five guys the WWE has ever seen. Who else will we be losing?

Well, Chris Jericho is also no spring chicken, as it is he has gotten smaller and slower over the past five years, and I feel he will also be gone. There is the distinct possibility that John Cena will pull a Rock and bolt the world of professional wrestling for Hollywood and films.

Triple H, The Cerebral Assassin, The King of Kings, The Game is currently 39 years old, so I give him another five years tops. I think he has quite the future, maybe running the company. And as great as he is for the company and at developing and training talent, he will be sorely missed as an in ring competitor. So not to go on too much longer, what I am getting at is who will be the foundation of this company in the year 2014?

The obvious choice is Randy Orton, he will be the top man for many years to come. Who else? Jeff and Matt Hardy, sure. Batista and Edge? Yeah they're great, but also not youngsters, and the beating Edge's body has taken over the past 10 years, and the injuries Batista constantly battles, I don't know how much more they possibly have left.

Other big names who have been around for a long time and should be visiting the retired life in the upcoming years are JBL, Big Show, and Kane. Some current youngsters that stand out to me are CM Punk, Shelton Benjamin, Rey Mysterio, John Morrison, and Jack Swagger. As much as I enjoy these guys, are any of them the next Shawn Michaels or the next Triple H? I don't think so.

Brian Kendrick and Tyson Kidd are nice prospects, as well as a few others I am undoubtedly forgetting. But can someone please ease my fears and give me something to look forward to? Tell me I'm overreacting, or that Vince and the gang have a bunch of phenomenal prospects stashed away who will all blow our minds in the upcoming years. Cause I just don't see it.

Tell me we will get back to the time of the 80's when we had guys like Hogan, Savage, Steamboat, Andre, Warrior, Piper, Rude, Bret Hart, and Mr. Perfect all at the same time, or the late 90's when HBK, HHH, Rock, Angle, Benoit, Jericho, Austin, Foley, the Hardys, the Dudleys, and Edge & Christian all filled out a Pay Per View card. Someone please, set me straight.